Sean Said:

What type of exercise would you do for a person with Guillain-Barre for balance?

We Answered:

I guess you'd try standing on one leg and balancing and work up to a single legged squat. The idea is to train your proprioreceptors to respond to sudden changes in terrain. Often walking on a ramp will help develop balance. A wobble board might be worth a try but they're expensive and in all honesty I find them hard to use. You might pick up a bongo board in a sports shop

Calvin Said:

Have Spondylolisthesis I have finished with physical therapy have you found out what you can or not do.Idea's

We Answered:

This is a difficult question to answer, first because the validity of the diagnosis of spondylolisthesis has come to be questioned. Although obvious on imaging studies, spondys exist in many people who have no pain what so ever. So, in some cases, the presense of spondylolisthesis is irrelevant.

The previous prevailing thought was that people with spondylolithesis needed to avoid activities of extension because this was thought to further propegate the slippage. This included things like weight lifting, gymnastics, golf, among others. We now know this to not necessarily be true and that for SOME, extension is actually BENEFICIAL.

It's also been said that people with spondys should also avoid contact sports. Again, I think this needs to be taken on a case by case basis. I am sure there are a lot of people playing football and other contact sports with a grade I or grade II spondy who don't even know it and will never develop symptoms. I'd be a little more leary about contact sports in those with a grade III or grade IV slippage...especially if lower extremity symptoms are present.

Sorry to be so vague, but the presense of spondylolisthesis has, itself, become a bit of an enigma.

Antonio Said:

Where in the midwest is there a health camp for a morbidly obese person to get fit?

We Answered:

AMA (American medical association) website is your best bet. There, they have doctors' names specializing in particular aspect of medicine. If I were you that's my starting point.

Next, I will check that doctor's credentials, success rate etc..and call for the initial appt. I know you will find it difficult to travel there, so I am sure some do home visits.

It starts with you. Of course, you have taken the first step. You have understood what needs to be done. Congratulations. Take small steps. You will be back to where you want again.

It has taken 'this many years' to get here. Give yourself at least 'half this many years' to get back to where you want.

You are beautiful and you will stay beautiful. Making small changes like this will pay off big.

God bless.

Jennifer Said:

neurofibromatosis..physical therapy?

We Answered:

Probably because it really doesn't work too well, for most people anyways.

I have NF type one and never have gone through PT, I used to take (but not becasue of the NF, because I wanted to) Tae Kwon Do, which was a little hard for me to do, I wasn't as good as the others in the class and I do see a NF doctor and he's never said anything about PT really doing much improvement.

Sorry if that doesn't help much, but there just all different degrees of NF. Some people have large masses on their legs, which continue to grow, so even doing PT might not even help, as the NF slowly get worse for the person. Doctors are still trying to find medicine that will stop the growing or even try to shrink the tumor.

Antonio Said:

Today I fell due to my feet going numb and my losing my balance (disk problem). Physical therapy no help. ???

We Answered:

well I work for a doctor who deals with disc related issues of the spine. I would suggest that you try to address this issue as soon as possible. Your first step would be to see what the problem is by getting a lumbar spine MRI. Then either take the results to your primary physician or a chiropractor. There are only a few treatments for herniated/bulging discs or degenerative disc disease. One is surgery which only has about a 40% success rate with most patients. The other source of treatment is called spinal decompression which is what we have in our office. It treats the conditions that I stated above and a strongly believe that you have one of those conditions as well based on what you told me. It is called the DRX 9000 and it has a pretty good success rate nationwide. Check out our website at www.bayareabackpain.com to learn more about this treatment and you probably have one in your area if you live in the U.S. To see if there is one of these machines in your area then check out axiomworldwide.com which is the manufacturer for this treatment and see where there is one in your area. In the mean time ice your LB 2x per day or more for 15-20 min sessions. Also stretch in the morning to gain full Range of Motion daily and also use good posture when standing and sitting. GOOD LUCK